India's food grain production estimated at record 295.67 million tonnes in 2019-20

India's food grain production is estimated at a record 295.67 million tonnes (MT) for 2019-20, higher by 10.46 MT than the production of 285.21 MT achieved during 2018-19.

In its Third Advance Estimates for 2019-20 released here on Friday, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers' Welfare said that, on the whole, higher than normal agricultural production is estimated for the year.

It said that the cumulative rainfall in the country during the monsoon season (June to September, 2019) had been 10% higher than the Long Period Average (LPA). Accordingly, the production of most of the crops for the agricultural year 2019-20 has been estimated higher than their normal production. These estimates are subject to revision on account of more precise information flowing over time, an official press release said.

Production during 2019-20 is higher by 25.89 MT than the previous five years’ (2014-15 to 2018-19) average production, it said.

Total production of rice during 2019-20 is estimated at a record 117.94 MT. It is higher by 8.17 MT than the last five years’ average production of 109.77 MT.

Production of wheat during 2019-20 is estimated at a record 107.18 MT. It is higher by 3.58 MT as compared to wheat production during 2018-19 and is higher by 11.02 MT than the average wheat production of 96.16 MT in the last five years.

Production of nutri/coarse cereals, estimated at a record 47.54 MT, is higher by 4.48 MT than the production of 43.06 MT achieved during 2018-19. Further, it is also higher by 4.50 MT than the average production of the last five years.

Total pulses production during 2019-20 is estimated at 23.01 MT, which is higher by 2.19 MT than the last five years’ average production of 20.82 MT.

Total oilseeds production in the country during 2019-20 is estimated at a record 33.50 MT, which is higher by 1.98 MT than the production of 31.52 MT during 2018-19. Further, the production of oilseeds during 2019-20 is higher by 4.10 MT than the average oilseeds production of the last five years.

Total production of sugarcane in the country during 2019-20 is estimated at 358.14 MT.

Production of cotton is estimated at record 36.05 million bales (of 170 kg each), which is higher by 8.01 million bales than the production of 28.04 million bales during 2018-19. Production of jute & mesta is estimated at 9.92 million bales (of 180 kg each).